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Greens MP Mehreen Faruqi said the benefits of the toll-free-period would go entirely to the private owner when SMC is sold off later this year.

"It's the public who lose out in the end. They pay tolls and then pay again without even knowing."

Mr Ayres has defended the government's decision to fork out the fee.

"It was a perfectly reasonable position to invest in a period of time where road users could experience the road, see what benefits it offered them and then allow them to make that decision once the toll came in," he told Macquarie Radio.